Grief, fear and despair of Swat widows

Ameerjan does not know what she will do when she leaves the camp

By Raza Hamdani
BBC Urdu service, Islamabad

In the north-western Pakistani region of Malakand lies a small village called Rangmala, where the Pakistan Red Crescent Society has set up a camp for people displaced by the violence in Swat.

One of the many people to arrive at the camp on Sunday is 35-year-old Ameerjan and her three children - six-year-old Shabana, five-year-old Wajid and three-month-old Yasin.

Ameerjan arrived with a group of 50 other families to collect relief supplies and be allocated tents in which to find shelter.

But she was the only woman who was unaccompanied by a man.

Crucial battleground

One volunteer came to help her. He said that out about 800 families in the camp, she was the only widow.

"My husband Shamsheer died in a blast a couple of days back," Ameerjan said.

There was loud explosion and I was thrown to the ground. I wanted to run out of the kitchen but could not move. All I could do was cry Shabana

"He was in the kitchen getting food with my daughter Shabana when the army shell exploded. My husband died while God saved my daughter."

Her home is part of the crucial battleground between the Pakistani Army and the Taliban and is rich in emerald mines.

She said that they had tried earlier to leave the area but the Taliban did not allow them.

"I was dreading an incident like this. I wish I had died instead of my husband. At least my children would have their father who could take better care of them than me,'" she said.

"I left home with my neighbours and we covered quite a lot of ground on foot before we hitched a ride. Once the army stopped us from travelling because they said the Taliban had planted improvised explosive devices and it was dangerous to carry on."

She said that she would be fine in the camp as long as she had food and shelter, but was nevertheless worried about the future.

"I don't know where I will live or how I will feed my children once this conflict is over. How long can my relatives bear the burden of looking after me and my children?" she asked.

"I will most probably do domestic work at different houses," she said, looking at her son, Wajid. "He will have to do labour work now. I cannot afford his studies."

Sitting next to Ameerjan was her daughter, Shabana.

She at first refused to talk but after a while only managed to say how she felt when the blast occurred.

"I was with my Abu (father) in the kitchen when there was loud explosion and I was thrown to the ground. I just could not understand what had happened. I wanted to run out of the kitchen but could not move. All I could do was cry."

Headless body

Like Ameerjan, the widow of Qayyum Shah (who does not want to give her full name) does not have to worry about shelter, food and education for her eight children.

Qayyum Shah was a policeman posted close to the Taliban headquarters of Peochar.

As fighting continues, the number of widows increases

About a year ago he was abducted by the Taliban.

The police department told Qayyum's brother Hayat Shah that his brother was first taken to Malam Jabba and back again to Peochar before being killed.

"My brother's headless body was found at seven in the morning and doctors were of the view that he was martyred some four or five hours earlier," said Hayat Shah.

Qayyum's widow is now living with him and his family along with her six daughters and two sons.

"What did my husband do to the Taliban to meet such a fate? Is it a crime to be in police?" she asked. "It is true that I have shelter and I can get by because I am living with my husband's brother," she said.

"But my children are now orphans and no matter how much comfort is given to them they will remain fatherless."

Nobody knows how many widows there are because the offensive to eject the Taliban from the Swat valley is still continuing.

That means that more are likely to be created by both sides before the conflict is over.